Philippine consular procedures in the United States
Ten guides to the Philippine consular procedures people actually search for from the United States, written from the official requirements published by the Embassy in Washington and the consulates general in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Seattle.
Read this first, because it saves most of the wasted trips. Three of the most searched Philippine procedures in this country are not consular procedures at all: PSA certificates come from Manila and are ordered online, apostilles on American documents come from your state's Secretary of State, and the bulk of an NBI clearance is handled by mail with the Philippines. A consulate cannot do any of them for you.
Passport
Everything the passport goes through: who has to appear, how long Manila takes and where the appointment really opens.
- Philippine passport renewal in the United States: Ten years for adults, five for minors, printed in Manila and mailed back in six to eight weeks. Why you must appear in person and why nine months’ notice is the real deadline.
- How to book a Philippine passport appointment: Every post books passports through passport.gov.ph, but everything else runs on its own system — WaitWhile, Acuity or plain email. Where the slots actually open.
Citizenship
Reacquiring Philippine citizenship, and the distinction between a derivative child and a child who was already a dual citizen at birth.
- Philippine dual citizenship under RA 9225: For natural-born Filipinos who lost citizenship by naturalising abroad. The oath does not require renouncing your other nationality, and minor children come in as derivatives.
Civil documents
The papers every other procedure asks for. Most of them are issued in the Philippines, not at the consulate.
- PSA birth certificate and CENOMAR from the United States: The consulate does not issue them — the PSA does, and you order them online. What a security-paper copy is and why every other procedure asks for one.
- NBI clearance from the United States: The consulate does not issue it: it notarises your fingerprint card. The rest of the application goes to the NBI in the Philippines by mail.
- Report of Birth and Report of Marriage: How to register a child born in the United States or a marriage celebrated here so that they exist in the Philippine civil registry. Mail-only at most posts.
Notarials
What a consular officer can and cannot sign, and what has moved to the apostille since 2019.
- Special Power of Attorney and consular notarisation: Twenty-five dollars a document, personal appearance required, and the consulate will neither draft your document nor act as your witness.
- Affidavit of One and the Same Person: The document that fixes a name that does not match between your PSA birth certificate and your US passport. It is what stops most dual citizenship and passport applications.
- Apostille for documents used in the Philippines: Since 15 May 2019 the consulate no longer authenticates US public documents. You need an apostille from the Secretary of State of the issuing state.
Travel
Entry rules, the balikbayan year and the visa that is no longer filed at a counter.
- Philippine visa and visa-free entry for US travellers: US passport holders enter visa-free for 30 days, balikbayans for a year, and 9(A) visas are now filed online at evisa.gov.ph — not at the consulate counter.
Every procedure is handled by the post with jurisdiction over where you live. Find yours in the directory of Philippine consulates, and check how it takes bookings in the appointment guide — no two posts use the same system.
philippineconsulates.us is an independent information guide to the Philippine consulates in the United States. We are not the Philippine Consulate General, the Philippine Embassy or any government agency. We do not book, sell or manage appointments: every post runs its own system. We check the details regularly, but they can change without notice — always confirm with the post before you travel.